‘Absolutely critical': Teched out new planes lead B.C. wildfire response
Before an aircraft in British Columbia drops water on a wildfire or crews attack flames from the ground, a pilot like Rob Verstraten gets there first.
'We really have to size up the fire. We have to see what terrain and hazards we have to deal with,' Verstraten said.
Verstraten flies in one of two new TBM 960 Air Attack planes from Conair Aerial Firefighting, known as 'birddogs,' alongside a provincial air attack officer. Together, they orchestrate the aerial response to a wildfire.
It's a crucial role, according to Conair's director of business development.
'The role of the birddog team is absolutely critical to a mission. Without a strong birddog team your operation won't be safe, effective, or efficient,' said Michael Benson said.
Benson says the two new birddogs are the most modern in the world, and cost roughly $10 million based on the purchase price paid by Conair and 13 modifications the Abbotsford, B.C.-based company made to maximize their effectiveness at fighting fires. The installed technology includes advanced weather sensors to detect lightning and infrared cameras.
'When you're flying over a fire, you can see the hot spots of the fire, and that displays itself in real time on a screen inside the cockpit. It allows the birddog team to make some real-time decisions to pinpoint accuracy around where they put retardant or fire-suppressing water,' Benson said.
There are several factors taken into consideration when deciding whether to send in an air tanker filled with water or flame retardant, according to Eric Antifaeff from the B.C. Wildfire Service.
'The retardant is long term,' said the superintendent of air tanker operations. 'We drop it adjacent to the burning flame front, and it slows the growth of the fire. And then we could follow up with water to bring down the intensity and increase how long the retard is effective.'
Kamloops provincial wildfire co-ordination centre
The Kamloops provincial wildfire co-ordination centre is pictured in June 2025. (Andrew Johnson / CTV News)
The birddog crew will decide what to drop on the fire and when, and will rehearse the route air tankers will take before calling in the larger planes to make their drops.
Verstraten explained, 'We will test it ourselves first, acting as a tanker. We need to be able to operate in all the speed ranges that a tanker would typically operate in.'
When a wildfire call comes in to the Kamloops, B.C., provincial co-ordination centre, the two-person crew can fire up the birddog in only five minutes. An air tanker can be filled with a full load of retardant in only a matter of eight minutes, taking off in 10. But, Antifaeff points out, the aerial attack is only part of the wildfire fighting equation.
Rob Verstraten
Pilot Rob Verstraten is shown. (Andrew Johnson / CTV News)
'I think the biggest misconception out there is that aircraft put out fires. We're just there to support the ground resources. You can have the best fleet in the world, but if it's not followed up by ground crews, heavy equipment and that kind of stuff, you're not going to be successful in fighting fires.'
For pilots like Verstraten, who are trained to push emotion aside as wildfire is threatening a community, the reward is in the results. 'We really get a lot of satisfaction out of keeping people safe and trying to prevent any loss of life or property,' he said.
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